City: Salem, Oregon

Reporting to: Assistant City Manager/Director for Strategy and Engagement

The Challenge

Northeast Salem is a vibrant, multicultural neighborhood where as many as 59 percent of residents are Hispanic or Latino and more than one-third of residents speak Spanish. Historically, Northeast residents have been under-represented in local decision-making, and light turnout at neighborhood association meetings is a sign of low civic engagement. The neighborhood also experiences higher rates of violent crime, drug crime, and property crime than other parts of the city, as well as higher social service needs. The city recently circulated a poll documenting the community’s perceptions of safety and fairness in the delivery of city services.

Mayor Julie Hoy’s top priority is public safety. Through Hoy’s participation in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a cross-sector team of city staff, resident, business, service providers, and those with lived experience, are working on collaborative approaches to improve safety in downtown Salem, which also faces issues with crime and social needs. Their goal is to bring together perspectives of residents, businesses, service providers, and others to create a shared vision and strategies to foster safety, wellbeing, and belonging.

This summer, city leaders want to build on this collaborative work downtown and extend the same model into the Northeast neighborhood. They hope a parallel group of thirty residents, representing the interests and needs of the area, can advance collaborative dialogue and creative solutions to improve safety, well-being, and belonging.

Key questions include:

• How does the approach used downtown need to be changed to meet the unique and specific needs of Northeast Salem?
• How can the city and residents measure the effectiveness of new initiatives in Northeast Salem?
• Who needs to be engaged to ensure that all perspectives, including historically underrepresented voices, are included?
• What resources, structures, and strategies are required to implement this work effectively and sustain engagement over time?

What You’ll Do

The summer fellow will follow the blueprint of Salem’s cross-sector work downtown to launch a similar collaboration in the Northeast neighborhood. With guidance and introductions from city staff, this will involve substantial engagement with residents, businesses, community groups, and others in the Northeast to create and launch the neighborhood’s own group of thirty. Key stakeholders include neighborhood association leaders, a group representing underserved communities called the Equity Roundtable, small businesses, the Latino Business Alliance, local schools, and other community groups and advocates in the neighborhood. Internal stakeholders include the Mayor’s and City Manager’s Offices, and departments of Police, Fire, Public Works, Community Services, and Community Planning and Development.

Key deliverables include:

• A stakeholder and relationship assessment identifying key community leaders, organizations, and voices in the Northeast, including existing city relationships, and where new or stronger relationships are needed to ensure inclusive representation.
• Recruitment and launch of cross-sector “group of 30” concept that reflects the diversity, lived experience, and interests of the Northeast neighborhood and who are committed to participating in an ongoing collaborative process focused on safety, wellbeing, and belonging.
• Support for the design and facilitation of two working sessions for the “group of 30” that build shared understanding of neighborhood conditions, surface priority challenges, and begin developing a shared vision and area of focus.
• A high-level summary documenting progress to-date, early insights from engagement, proposed measures of success, and a practical roadmap outlining how the “group of 30” can continue, deepen, and sustain its work beyond the fellowship.

What You’ll Bring

The fellow will be expected to possess the following skills:

• Data Analysis
• Design Thinking
• Policy Analysis
• Qualitative Interviewing and Analysis
• Spanish Fluency (preferred)

Apply here

Back to Summer Fellowships page